#FUTUREDIGITAL

FEBRUARY 20172017 & BEYOND

Thank you for taking the time to read Weber Shandwick Brussels’ Future Digital 2017 report*. Within this report, we will showcase what we believe are the key digital trends for 2017 and beyond, alongside an update on the activities that could play an integral role in your organisation’s communications throughout the year. Connecting with your key target audiences can happen across many touch points. What seems far from mainstream could change in an instant. Enjoy the presentation!

Please contact bfox@webershandwick.com if you have any questions, comments or want to take your digital and social media to the next level.

WELCOME TO ‘FUTURE DIGITAL 2017’

* WITH ATTENTION SPANS DROPPING FROM 12 SECONDS TO 8 SECONDS, YOU’VE DONE

WELL JUST TO GET THIS FAR!

OVERVIEW: DIGITAL TRENDS

+ DEATH OF THE DIGITAL SILO+ NO STRATEGY = NO INFLUENCE+ MESSAGING APPLICATIONS DOMINATE+ OPTIMISED TARGETING+ SMART(ER) METRICS+ EXPANSION OF VISUAL INFLUENCE

+ ALL THINGS LIVE+ EMERGENCE OF ‘FAKE NEWS’+ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE+ AUGMENTED & VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES+ ‘PHYGITAL’

FIRSTLY, HOW TO SURVIVE THE NEW REALITY OF DIGITAL

123

GO BACK TO YOUR AUDIENCEWho are you looking to reach? Do you know how they use digital?

APPOINT DIGITAL GATEKEEPERSDigital shouldn’t exist as a silo but you need to ‘protect’ your channels.

STOP SEEING EARNED AND PAID MEDIA AS CONFLICTINGUnify the process, the objectives and the budget.

WHAT ROLE

YOUR BUSINESSWhat do you want your audience(s) to

do?

YOUR AUDIENCESWhat are your audience(s) doing on social?

THE ROLE OF DIGITAL & SOCIAL

SHOULD DIGITAL & SOCIAL PLAY?

1

DEATH OF THE DIGITAL SILO

DIGITAL IS RELEVANT IN ALL ORGANISATIONS

DIGITAL

PUBLIC AFFAIRS HR

EMPLOYEESBUSINESS

UNITS

INTERNAL COMMS

ECOMMERCE

BRAND/CORP COMMS

PRODUCTBUSINESS INSIGHT

Digital touches so many parts of a modern brand, business or political entity. We need approaches that are open to this reality, whilst still retaining structure and order.

THE POWER OF INFLUENCERS IS GROWING AND GROWING…

Source: European Commission YouTube Channel

…And this is even having an impact at an EU level;; in September 2016, European Commission President Jean-­Claude Juncker was interviewed by three young YouTube stars. Topics on the agenda included youth unemployment, security, skills and education.

Is this the new norm? In 2017, the year many national elections are happening across Europe, the importance of digital and social media will be a key cornerstone of political campaigning.

2

NO STRATEGY = NO INFLUENCE

The number of social media and digital channels that a brand, business or political organisation can have a presence on will continue to grow in 2017.

In order to be prepared ask yourself:

Do you need a stronger call-­to-­action on your website? Do you need a fresh new website? Do you need to work harder on the channels that you have? Do you need an app? Would a newsletter suffice?

Strategy leads to influence, which leads to success online.

NO STRATEGY = NO INFLUENCE

““PETE JOHNSON

STRATEGY IS A STYLE OF THINKING, A CONSCIOUS AND DELIBERATE PROCESS…

THE SCIENCE OF ENSURING FUTURE SUCCESS

3

MESSAGING APPSDOMINATE

THE MESSAGING

Facebook Messenger in particular has made some pretty interesting feature upgrades in the last year.

Facebook attempted to change the ‘terms of use’ for WhatsApp to introduce in-­app advertising, which was rejected in Europein 2016.

If we look at other app functionality around the world, then we see that the likes of Messenger, Snapchat and WhatsApp are just getting started…

ARE ONLY THE TIP13

APPS WE KNOW

OF THE ICEBERG

BUT… MEET WECHATASIA’S MESSAGING APP ON STEROIDS

+ SAVE PAYMENT DETAILS OR MAKE PURCHASES+ PAY FOR THINGS IN-STORE+ TRANSFER MONEY TO FRIENDS+ PLAY LOTTERIES+ SPLIT THE BILL WITH FRIENDS

+ HAIL A CAB AND PAY FOR YOUR JOURNEY+ READ THE NEWS+ DO GROCERIES OR GET LAUNDRY COLLECTED+ SHARE YOUR LOCATION WITH A FRIEND+ COLLECT COUPONS

WeChat is essentially a ’one stop shop’ that combines functionality from across a range of other apps. It allows users to:

With the pace of change, can we expect to see WhatsApp following the same route as WeChat during 2017 – giving communicators a very direct method to talk to audiences?

4

OPTIMISEDTARGETING

MAKE THE MOST OF THE TOOLS AVAILABLE

Generic digital marketing and social media advertising won’t suffice in 2017.

Targeting is a two-­way street.

Optimising a targeting strategy will become even more important as organisations battle even more intensely for audience attention.

It’s not enough to simply pick a channel, but vital to explore the specific demographics and targeting options available to you.

OPTIMISED TARGETING

104.58

121.47

146.42

170.5

197.48

224.34

252.02

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017(forecast)

2018(forecast)

USD, Billions

Source: statista.com

GROWTH IN SPENDAccurate and effective targeting offered by digital and social media advertising explains the continual growth seen in the digital advertising world.

By 2018, digital advertising is expected to account for 33% of all advertising worldwide.

Traditional channels will see a decline in revenues as a result.

SMART TARGETING & CROSS-DEVICE OPTIMISATIONPeople switch off if your website (your organisation’s online information hub) isn’t desktop AND mobile device friendly.

A one second delay in loading a web page loses over 10% of traffic.

This is the new standard.

Are you optimised? Free tools at your disposal:

1) Google Analytics allows you to understand more about user data and content that resonates with them.

2) Google Webmaster allows you to understand the pages that matter most, enabling you to bring what matters to the forefront.

5

SMART(ER)METRICS

THE MEASUREMENT CHALLENGEMEANS THAT WE NEED TO GO BACK TO BASICS

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING TO ACHIEVE?

WHICH METRICS POINT TO THIS BEING ACHIEVED?

1 2

It’s easy to be deluged by metrics when it comes to digital communications. Usually, less is more...

KPIs need to answer the campaign objectives. That means defining them before things kick

off.

Only then is it possible to assess the potential metrics that will help answer this question. It is important to find ways to validate these metrics

through third parties where possible.

THE RACE IS ON FLOWS IN

AS THE

MONEY

NEED TO FOLLOW

THE

METRICS

VIEWABILITY

VIEW COUNT

AD BLOCKERS

BOT TRAFFIC

ENGAGEMENT

ROI

COOKIE ATTRIBUTION

6

EXPANSION OFVISUAL INFLUENCE

STAND OUT

BREAK BOUNDARIES

EXPANSION OF VISUAL INFLUENCE

The amount of content that your target audiences are exposed to on a daily (if not hourly) basis is peaking right now – how are you going to stand out? How will you get noticed?

Content will break boundaries in 2017. It will become even more intrusive and even more controversial. What type of content would resonate with your audience that you haven’t tried before?

NEW CONCEPTSIn 2017 try new concepts, but keep it visual. Imagery and videos are replacing text so remember to differentiate –because that’s what your peers and competitors will be doing.

WE PROCESS VISUALS

60.000 TIMES FASTER

THAN TEXT

OF WHAT WE READ IS REMEMBERED…USE VISUALS TO STAND OUT

20%ONLY

VISUAL INFLUENCE

1.8BILLION IMAGES ARE SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA DAILY

OVER

HOWEVER, VIDEO CONTENT IS THE MOST IMPACTFUL – 43% OF PEOPLE ARE INFLUENCED MORE BY VIDEO THAN BY ANY OTHER MEDIUM…

Source: visualinfluence.webershandwick.com

““MARK ZUCKERBERG, JULY 2016

WE SEE A WORLD THAT IS

VIDEO-FIRSTWITH VIDEO AT THE HEART OF ALL OF OUR APPS AND SERVICES

7

ALL THINGSLIVE

In 2016 Facebook introduced livestreaming to its platforms (Facebook and Instagram), following the popularity of services such as Twitter’s Periscope.

Nowadays, live is the new normal.

Forget text updates and blurry photos, everything that can happen in HD visual real-­time, will.

LIVESTREAM = EVERYTHING

THE RACE IS ON

TWITTER… FACEBOOK……has spent all year really building itself up as the home of ‘LIVE’. Periscope and Moments have been big pushes. Major global events such as Brexit and the U.S. election have helped this happen.

...isn’t going down without a fight. Its own live products –especially live video – have been a huge success this year and expect that to continue into 2017.

8

THE EMERGENCEOF FAKE NEWS

THE TRUTH BEHIND

‘FAKE NEWS’

At Weber Shandwick we take a digital-­first approach to all communication challenges.

Social media continues to grow and evolve as a corporate communications and consumer marketing tool.

When a brand or corporate or sector reputation can be lost in a single tweet, our “always-­on”, engaging approach stands us in good stead to meet the growing challenges and uncertainties facing our clients.

There are challenges for communicators. The fake news/post-­truth communications phenomenon will increasingly migrate from politics to the corporate world. We have been used to operating in a fact based, “give business the benefit of the doubt” environment and the rules have all changed.

Is this the case or are these the ‘alternative facts’?

GOOGLE & FACEBOOKARE IN THE FIRING LINE

‘Fake News’ is a red-­hot topic right now. The rise of this phenomenon has had a major impact on channels like Google and Facebook. The scrutiny is intense. There are daily calls for regulation within the ‘system’.

How will the channels respond?

National elections across many European countries in 2017 will undoubtedly add further pressure, both on the traditional media channels but also the major social networks. We saw this happen after both the the U.S. elections and U.K. referendum (Brexit).

We can expect Google and Facebook to continue to work tirelessly to combat fake news – they have their own reputations to protect after all. In fact, Facebook has already proposed solutions to stop the spread ahead of the German federal elections in September 2017.

9

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TAKES OVER

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TAKES OVER

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was one of the hot topics of 2016. AI will only evolve faster and will continue to be a buzzword in 2017 – watch this space as organisations invest in this technology for the benefit of their business.

Mady Delvaux, a Luxembourg member of the European Parliament’s S&D group, says that the use of robots should be regulated. This highlights a rising interest from policy makers on the issue – meaning that the technology sector needs to proactively confront and address the issues linked with artificial intelligence.

But remember, people still want personalisation and H2H engagement.

““ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY

BY FAR THE GREATEST DANGER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS THAT

PEOPLE CONCLUDE TOO EARLYTHAT THEY UNDERSTAND IT

ALREADY DOMINATES DIGITAL

AND MEASUREMENTCHATBOTS ANALYTICS

PROGRAMMATIC

ALGORITHMS ADVERTISING

AIFOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

CONTENT

CHATBOTS

A I ALEXA

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TAKES OVERAI: It’s already proven to be better than humans at specialist tasks, such as lip-­reading.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2jLas0y

Chatbots will automate conversations between a consumer and an organisation to analyse big data to make future interactions quicker and easier.

Telenet has a chatbot that helps you pick movies by answering a few questions.

Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa, is embedded in the Amazon Echo. This sold out for Christmas 2016. Alexa became accessible for all developers and showed the real potential of AI during CES 2017 in different new household products.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2je8fdt

ARE THE FIRST STEP

37

CHATBOTSChatbots are the first signal that artificial intelligence is coming to social media. But actually AI has been around in social for sometime –e.g. algorithms.

As you can see to the right, The White House has been utilising chatbots to respond to questions and comments sent to their official Facebook channel.

Is this something that we can expect to be adopted by governments in the EU? After being successfully trialled and tested in the U.S., it would be natural for this technology to enter the European market.

10

VIRTUALEXPERIENCES

MIXING OUR ‘REALITY’ & ONLINE WORLDS

The introduction of augmented reality (AR) gives digital a whole new perspective and opens new opportunities for your online presence.

In 2016, virtual reality (VR) received a lot of attention, but again the trends show that audiences will see more of this in the coming year. If you want to give your audience immersive experiences, introducing VR just might be your first choice.

At first glance, this form of communication might seem too futuristic for the Brussels bubble. However, it could be a fantastic way of explaining a complex issue to policy makers, such as how a power plant works or what a high-­end manufacturing facility might look like.

THE POTENTIAL OF THE TECHNOLOGYVR EXAMPLES

SHELL: CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGEA SELF-GUIDED TOUR TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF CCS ON THE

ATMOSPHERE AND EXPLORE HOW CO2 IS STORED UNDERGROUND.

NORWEGIAN AIRLINESA 5-D VIRTUAL REALITY AND REAL-WORLD ACTIVATION.

CONSUMERS TOOK A 360° EXPERIENCE WITH SOUNDS AND MOTION.

11

PHYSICAL+DIGITAL= ‘PHYGITAL’

PHYSICAL + DIGITAL

PHYGITAL

In 2017, we will see an even deeper blurring of the boundaries as digital and physical merge as one.

As integration deepens, ’Phygital’ could be the glue that binds the audience experience and impact together.

One dimensional campaigns are a thing of the past.

Involve all channels.

Ensure content is interlinked.

This will guarantee the biggest impact.

AMAZON GO HITACHI SOCIAL INNOVATION

PHYGITAL

Say hello to Amazon Go – a new kind of store with no checkout required. Using the world’s most advanced technology, there are no lines to wait in. Use the app, take the products you want and go!

Hitachi Social Innovation leads the agenda as the company seeks to make a positive change in areas such as public safety, energy and telecommunications.

CONCLUSIONS:WHAT DO OUR DIGITAL EXPERTS THINK?

OUR DIGITAL TRENDS EXPERTS AT WEBER SHANDWICKMEET THE TEAM

DIGITAL STRATEGIST DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGERBENJAMIN FOX LAURA REYNDERS

TRENDS RESEARCHERNICOLAS VERGAUWENMONICA RADULESCU

STRATEGIC PLANNER

WHAT DO OUR DIGITAL EXPERTS THINK?CONCLUSIONS

BENJAMIN FOXDIGITAL MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

LAURA REYNDERSDIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER

TARGETING NICHE

AUDIENCES AND COMMUNITIES

IS GOING TO BE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.

IN 2017, VIRTUAL REALITY WILL TAKE

CORPORATE STORYTELLING

TO A GAME-CHANGING NEXT LEVEL.

WHAT DO OUR DIGITAL EXPERTS THINK?CONCLUSIONS

MONICA RADULESCUSTRATEGIC PLANNER

NICOLAS VERGAUWENTRENDS RESEARCHER

DIGITAL IS NO LONGER AN AFTERTHOUGHT,

BUT THE BACKBONE

OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS.

MAKE YOUR ON- AND OFFLINE PRESENCE

ONE BIG EXPERIENCE

AND STOP TREATING THEM INDEPENDENTLY.

OUR DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES

RESEARCH & AUDITING

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

PAID MEDIA STRATEGY & EXECUTION

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

INFLUENCER IDENTIFICATION &

ENGAGEMENT

CONTENT CREATION

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

ANALYTICS & REPORTING

THANK YOU MORE INFO? CONTACT

BFOX@WEBERSHANDWICK.COM